Scheduled To Appear – 02/25

On Wednesdays, this space is usually devoted to comedians. Since Jimmy Fallon is one of the funniest guys I can think of (Fallon/Fey “Weekend Update” – classic!), we’re going to talk about him today.

Anyone who’s expecting a run-of-the-mill talk show experience when Fallon takes to the air in the “Late Night” seat on March 2 is in for a surprise.

Besides hearing The Roots every night, viewers will see skits that will look a lot different from Carson’s or Letterman’s.

In the spirit of YouTube, “Late Night” writers will shoot their comedy pieces themselves, then edit them right in the office on Macs. “They can use me if they want, or not, but I’m available,” Fallon said. “We can be different and topical and fun.”

Fallon is also aiming to take advantage of the fact that many viewers get their media fix from more than just the television screen these days.

“We’re not trying to ignore the fact that people are in front of a computer at work and surf the Web all day long, or that kids check the Internet when they get home from school,” the comedian explained. “We want to exploit that, and have fun with it. I’m on Facebook and I’ve been on Twitter just talking to my fans. It’s amazing!”

To illustrate the kind of thing he’s talking about, Fallon related an experience he had at the Consumer Electronics show in Las Vegas.

“Across the street – I’m not kidding – was the Adult Entertainment Expo. [So I Twittered], ‘There’s got to be some great jokes about this. Give ‘em to me!’ And in about a minute I had hundreds. Like: ‘I got a coupon to double my RAM, and I don’t know which place to use it.’

“How cool is that! Maybe we can incorporate something like that in the show.”

Of course Fallon isn’t abandoning every talk show convention; Folks will still drop by to chat.

First up is Robert De Niro, with Cameron Diaz, Serena Williams and Tina Fey on the schedule over the coming weeks.